In the past, it has been long since established that Holland Hall at Pitt is an all girls' residence hall. As of fall 2017, this does not reign true. Holland has gone co-ed. As a freshman and member of Holland Hall myself, I've been able to see what it is like on the inside. I've had countless questions about how it is set up and how the hall has changed. My experience has been extraordinarily wonderful. Without Holland going co-ed, I wouldn't have half of the friends that I have now in my building.
Since coming to Pitt, I've realized that everyone is robotically programmed to ask the same three questions when first meeting someone: What year are you? Where do you live? What's your major?
A lot of upperclassmen have told me how they either lived in Holland or know someone who did. Most of the girls that I meet have the same general reaction: It's weird to think that there is now a guy living in my old room. At the beginning of the fall semester, I was shocked by how interested people were in how Holland is now structured, so I am here to explain it all.
Holland is split between two wings: North and South. The North side is all girls and the South side is all guys. It sounds a bit weird at first, but it works for us. Each side has their own bathroom, so it's easy to think that the two sides barely ever see each other. On some floors, this is the case, but on others, North and South get along really well. A lot of people have friends on different floors too. For those of you who don't already know, Holland has one lounge all the way up on the 11th floor.
At the beginning of the ear especially, all of us freshmen would hang out up there (mostly because it's the only place in the building with air conditioning) and play board games or watch TV with the typical "I'm a new Freshman with no friends" sort of a deal. That is where Holland residents get the chance to meet everyone. Even now there is always a group of people in the lounge just hanging out.
I had met one friend from a different floor in Holland. She asked if I wanted to play a game in the lounge one night. I said "sure" and the rest is history. I made a ton of new friends by bonding over a board game. What is most interesting is how my friend group in Holland gets along regardless of the fact that there are members from both Holland North and South.
Now that we are more settled into our residence hall, all of my friends typically hang out in one of our rooms in the evenings. Not so shockingly, we don't actually leave until late at night after we finally get kicked out of our friends' room. From my experience, it isn't so weird walking around on the guys' side of the building as it is walking around on the girls' side of another floor.
Overall, there is a great dynamic in Holland Hall. I love it there and wish I didn't have to leave next year. As far as I'm concerned, Holland was my first home here in Pittsburgh, and I wouldn't have changed a thing about the way that it is run right now.
